ByGrace

Happy Thursday! I have been so busy all day that I've just now turned on my computer! It's rare that I wait this late in the day to at least check email and read a few blogs. For my Giving Thanks entry for today, I wanted to show you what I was working on all morning. I decluttered and reorganized the bookshelves in our living room and cleaned up our entry hall. It looks so much better now! Both areas had been needing some attention, and the holiday season gave me the motivation to get it done. Here are before pictures. It's bad! This is just inside our front door. Can you believe the stuff that is piled here? And the first impression someone gets of my home? The box of stuff on the left was just put there yesterday - going to the Salvation Army - but the rest of it has been there a while! This is our overloaded bookcase. What a mess! My husband didn't like all the stuff that was just piled in there. It does look awful. Andrew caught me coming around the c...

I'm not familiar with the following song, but as I was looking through an old hymn book today, I found it in the group of Thanksgiving songs. I liked the words, so I thought I'd share it with you today. Thanks to God! Written by August Ludvig Storm, 1862-1914 Thanks, O God, for boundless mercy From Thy gracious throne above; Thanks for ev'ry need provided From the fullness of Thy love! Thanks for daily toil and labor And for rest when shadows fall; Thanks for love of friend and neighbor And thy goodness unto all! Thanks for thorns as well as roses, Thanks for weakness and for health; Thanks for clouds as well as sunshine, Thanks for poverty and wealth! Thanks for pain as well as pleasure -- All Thou sendest day by day; And Thy Word, our dearest treasure, Shedding light upon our way. Thanks, O God, for home and fireside, Where we share our daily bread; Thanks for hours of sweet communion, Where by Thee our souls are fed! Thanks for grace in time of sorrow And for joy and ...

I saw this meme at Stray Thoughts this morning and thought it was perfect for today's Giving Thanks entry. I had been trying to figure out what I would do, so thanks for the inspiration, Barbara! 1. Which do you like better: cooking at your house, or going elsewhere? I can do either/or. I love to fix a big meal at my home and invite friends over, but I also enjoy just fixing part of a meal and taking it to someone else's home. Celebrating twice each year, I can do both, you know! ;) 2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird? Frozen. 3. What kind of stuffing? Cornbread dressing, and we don't stuff the bird. 4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Pumpkin, although sweet potato is acceptable at any time other than Thanksgiving. 5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing? I enjoy turkey on a roll that night and a turkey sandwich the next day, but after that, I'm done with the turkey. I don't like turkey casseroles that much. ...

Kelli at There Is No Place Like Home is hosting a Thanksgiving celebration for the next two weeks to help us prepare ourselves for the holiday . . . aaaaannnndddd she's having a giveaway! ;) Each day, Monday through Thursday, Kelli will share a Thanksgiving project, a cleaning challenge, and a Thanksgiving poem. To participate, you can go here to see the prizes, or visit today's post to see the rules for joining in. Each day that you participate will gain an entry for the giveaway. For my first post, I'll share with you our modest plans for Thanksgiving. Obviously, since we live in Canada, we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in October. We discussed this last year on the blog, and I still had the same problem this year: I am not used to Thanksgiving in October, so it's hard for me to get into the mood for it that early in the season! So I think we're just going to give in to both countries and celebrate both! LOL This year, Pastor Gordon Conner and his wife...